7-Day The Best of Botswana

Walking Stick Travel & Tours

4.8/5 – 73 Reviews

$2,503 pp (USD)

2 travelers on Start date

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Walking Stick Travel & Tours

4.8/5
(73 Reviews)

Office In:: Botswana
Size:: 1-5 employees (Founded in 2010)
Tour Types:: Budget camping tours where clients assist with camp chores
Destinations:: BW

Walking Stick Travel Tours is a Botswana based mobile safari operation. The company is run by a highly experience staff who grew up in the legendary Okavango Delta and owned by Phillimon (Philly) Kamogelo. Philly started to drive a mokoro canoe at the age of seven. Before setting up his mobile safari operation Philly obtained his guiding license and worked at Odd Balls Camp and Orient Express for many years. Walking Stick Travel Tours is officially licensed by the Botswana Tourism Authority.

Reviews73

Natalie –

Reviewed: Feb 13, 2024

Ethical local company, fantastic experience.

5/5

Fantastic locally owned company. Phillimon and his team took the best care of us and we were treated like royalty. Actually, more like treasured family. Food was great and Phillimon's skills as a tracker and guide meant that we had some incredible sightings. We booked and paid a deposit with Phillimon only weeks before Covid hit and had to postpone this over and over. He honoured our deposit for FOUR YEARS!!! Many other companies would have taken the money and run, but he not only held it, he kept the price the same. That's ethics!! I highly recommend Walking Stick Safaris!!!!

Jules –

Reviewed: Nov 15, 2023

Experienced, local, run by a trustworthy professional.

5/5

In October 2023 three friends and I had the absolute pleasure of doing a 7 day safari in Botswana with Walking Sticks Travel & Tours. The great service began before we left Australia as we emailed to and fro asking questions and clarifying details about the trip and were provided with all the info we needed by the very helpful Kealeboga James. It was a mobile safari which meant we camped in 4 different areas. As such, we got to see different landscapes and animals through Okavango Delta, Khwai Community Area, Savute area and Chobe National Park. I arrived in Maun the day before our tour started but still I was greeted at the airport by Walking Sticks manager Phillimon who drove me to my hotel. He immediately struck me as a polite and respectful person and as we spent the week in his care he proved to also be professional, humble, flexible, trustworthy and extremely knowledgeable with regard to flora, fauna and all things nature. He was supported by a terrific, hardworking team including Chef 'Prince' (a funny fellow), another expert guide, and multi-skilled back-up people who did everything from poling the Mokoro canoes to setting up tents and completing many tasks required to look after our needs so all the hard work was done for us. Our tour began with an enthralling Mokoro trip through the beautiful pristine wetlands where we were amongst hippos, crocs, elephants and birds. Mokoro's are the main form of transport and our camping spot was inaccessible by road and located in a shady nook near the water where we could view elephants and hear the sounds of nature (eg lion's roaring) day and night. Our tents with en-suite were adequate and we enjoyed the food and gin & tonic 'sundowner's whilst watching the gorgeous sunsets. Each day we spent hours game viewing either on foot or by jeep and Phillimon had a gift at being able to track and locate all manner of wildlife including lion, hyena, wild dogs, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, baboon, leopard and a variety of antelope and birds. We learnt so much as he imparted his knowledge of their behaviour and the landscape. All our campsites were different and in lovely settings. If you are a person who loves nature and living amongst it, can be up at sunrise every day and handle the challenges of dusty, bumpy roads and hot weather (October) then this tour is for you. It is one of the most memorable experiences in my 40 years of traveling. Thank you so much to Phillimon - your integrity is a true asset. Walking Sticks is a small, locally owned and run business and deserves the highest praise.

Tam –

Reviewed: Oct 26, 2023

Amazing. Exceeded all expectations. Phillimon is an outstanding guide, tracker and tour operator.

5/5

We (4 friends) had booked a Walking Sticks 7 day mobile safari “The Best of Botswana” during covid and finally made it in October 2023. An eagerly awaited holiday and safari that exceeded all expectations and the highlight of our trip to Southern Africa.

The trip was great value and Walking Sticks such an ethical company who honoured our deposit paid in 2020.

Phillimon is the best guide and tracker you could hope to meet. We saw some amazing sights including a wild dog hunt and kill.

Lions hunting, at a kill, lounging about, elephants and more elephants, hippos a plenty, cape buffalo, leopard and lots of giraffes, zebra and antelope and loads of birds. Seeing hyena pups at a den with mother was yet another highlight.

The first 2 nights was spent on the Okavango Delta and we did 3 walking safaris with an amazing guide. Watching hippos from
a mokoro on the water was a dream come true.

Magical African sunsets with G&T’s & cold beers. Dinner prepared by Chef Prince with a camp fire and great wines.

You couldn’t find a better safari company than Walking Sticks with Phillimon, KD, Prince, Comfort and Kealeboga. Highly recommend.

Thank you for making our dreams come true.

Tam

Agne –

Reviewed: Oct 17, 2023

Every day was special!

5/5

We had 7-Day The Best of Botswana tour. First days was our guide Jacob. He was really good about the nature, wildlife and history. Other days was our guide Dylos. He is the best! We had some bad surprises, but he really did his best that we still could see all the animals. You are so lucky if Dylos will be your guide. He knows the local languages and has good contacts as well, good humor. It all is important if you are stuck together with the guide 80% of your day inside the car. In our trip, first days we were on wetlands and without a car .So no charging from car. You need to take your battery to charge your phone and camera. But if you have all days with camp car, then you can charge from car. Also be aware during bushwalks. Me and my husband hurt ourselves stepping on the thorns. They came though the camping boots! For ladies- washing your hair can be tricky. It is Africa, so there is not so great opportunities for shower. There is not so much wildlife as you see from the commercials. Lions, elephants, hippos and giraffes can see every day, but cheetah, leopard, wild dogs, hyenas you maybe cant see at all. It is all about luck and how good guide you will have.

Milo –

Reviewed: Sep 28, 2023

A once in a lifetime trip with a few issues...

2/5

We had a 13 day tour with walking stick tours in August of 2023. Botswana itself is an incredible country with some of the friendliest people, and some of the most incredible wildlife we’d encountered anywhere. All 5 of us highly recommend a trip to the country for safari. Unfortunately our experience of walking stick tours was less stellar.

I’ll start with the good (of which there is plenty) :
- The food that Jo & team prepared for us was absolutely incredible, better than we had In restaurants elsewhere, and all cooked over an open fire! The team were always friendly and happy to help with any requests, we had beer and wine at dinner and no shortage of clean bottled water. We were really well taken care of at camp the entire 2 week trip.
- Prior to the trip communication was good and we were picked up at the airport.
- We had a great guide, Wago. He spoke very good English and had excellent knowledge of the flora & fauna of Botswana. We had a lovely time getting to know him and he got us some truly amazing wildlife sightings.
- Onto the sightings generally, we had great views of lion, leopard, cheetah, even an early morning wild dog sighting - really special.

The negatives:
- Our vehicle (named desert honey badger) was in a constant state of disrepair. We broke down several times every single day, the brakes on the car weren’t functional, and we had to veer off road at points when vehicles approached along the same stretch of road. We were repeatedly told that the car was being replaced or fixed but the issues persisted for the entire trip. This impacted our game viewing and massively impacted our travel time, by the end of the trip we were taken in an alternate vehicle, but this was far too little and much too late.
- Communication on the trip itself was poor, the issues with the vehicle and what was (or in fact wasn’t) being done was never properly communicated to us. We were misled daily about getting the vehicle repaired or replaced, but this never happened. We’ve been on safari before and know how ad-hoc things are sometimes, but this was a step beyond.
- In an attempt to make up for the constant issues with the vehicle we were offered a “complimentary” trip to Victoria falls in place of a game drive as our vehicle wasn’t functional. This was in fact not complimentary, and we paid $500+ for the day ourselves.

Since our trip we have reached out to Phillimon to open a dialogue with no intent for compensation, but we have been ignored. We absolutely loved Botswana and can’t recommend it enough as a safari destination, but we’d recommend you go with another operator instead of walking stick.